News

Gold prices fell in Malaysia on Wednesday, according to data compiled by FXStreet.

Gold (XAU/USD) edges higher during the Asian session and touches a fresh weekly top on Wednesday, though it lacks follow-through buying.

Oil prices have been struggling in part due to hopes for peace. Indications from Trump and Russia were that sanctions relief would come with any deal and that would allow Russian crude to flow more freely.

As for the chances of a deal, they’re low but peace after a long war always seems impossible until it does. These things often tend to move quickly and Trump certainly has ways to lean on Ukraine to give up a large part of its territory forever. On the ground, Russia is inching ahead but Ukraine has little capability to mount any kind of counter-attack. They’re having some success on raising the economic toll on Russia but that’s a tough way to win a war against a country that’s seen surprisingly strong economic growth since the outset of the conflict.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.

The yen is the top performer so far in Asian trading as it undoes some of yesterday’s damage. USD/JPY is down 30 pips to 156.57 and it was helped along by Japanese PM Takaichi who said they were closely watching market moves. She was mostly talking about rising yields but effectively, it’s two sides of the same coin.

Looking at the chart, we have made a big round trip this year and are almost back at the 158 high from January. The Bank of Japan is also increasingly likely to hike next week and that should weigh on the yen, particularly with the Fed set to cut rates today.

All that indicates we’re more likely to see some consolidation below the recent highs along with some short-term back-and-fill to 156.00. The big short term risk is that Powell is unusually hawkish, though that will be hard to do along with a cut.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.

The USD/CAD pair trades marginally higher to near 1.3855 during the Asian trading session on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) withered on Tuesday, shedding another 1750 points in a second straight soft day.

The Japanese Yen (JPY) edges higher during the Asian session on Wednesday following the release of Japan’s Corporate Goods Price Index, which exceeded market expectations and reaffirmed bets for an imminent rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BoJ).

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday that it’s important for currencies to move in a stable manner and reflect fundamentals. Takaichi added that the government will take appropriate action against excessive and disorderly moves.

Trump’s autopen comments came during a speech in Pennsylvania about the economy, aimed at countering Democrats’ messaging about the U.S. affordability crisis.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), an index of the value of the US Dollar (USD) measured against a basket of six world currencies, trades on a flat note near 99.20 during the Asian trading hours on Wednesday.